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May is crab month for #InsertAnInvert2024 
& the first prompt is “true crab.” Time after time shrimp like crustaceans have evolved crablike forms (through a process called carcinization) & do a good job of pretending to be crabs, but this odd looking fellow is the real deal, a true crab. My red frog crab (Ranina ranina), also known as a spanner crab or Huỳnh Đế crab, is hand-printed on Japanese kozo paper. 
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#linocut #printmaking #crustacean #crab #frogCrab #MastoArt #wildlifeArt
This crab is found in tropical & sub-tropical waters offshore Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, the E coast of Africa, through the Indian ocean to the Pacific offshore Japan & Hawai’i. It is the sole known member of its genus & it is fished for its meat. The 5.9” (15 cm) crabs live in 10 to 100 m (33–328 ft) of water, where they bury themselves in the sand during the day & hunt bottom-dwelling fish. Known as “frog crabs”, on account of their elongated carapace and frog-like appearance. 2/n
Their claws are modified into tools for digging, and the body is a rounded shape that is easy to bury in sand. Unlike most other true crabs, the abdomens of raninids are not curled under the cephalothorax, so they are a little unusual looking.
Ranina ranina is a regional specialty in some regions of the Philippines where it is known as curacha. It is generally eaten steamed as halabos, or cooked in coconut milk as ginataan. 3/4
In Vietnam the species is named as “Huỳnh Đế crab”, literally means “emperor crab” as it has been a favorite high-ranked cuisine of historical Vietnamese monarchs hailed “monarch of all the crab”.
https://minouette.etsy.com/listing/1669803440
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